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I'm currently sitting in a train station parking lot watching my Uber drive around in circles. Apparently Google maps is unaware there is a new easier entrance

by yardie 10y ago

I'm currently sitting in a train station parking lot watching my Uber drive around in circles. Apparently Google maps is unaware there is a new easier entrance and still instructs drivers to enter through the old construction site. This has gone on for the 3 months I've used them as part of my commute. I'm looking forward to the day where I get into an argument with a wheelless self-driving car about taking shortcuts and avoiding traffic. Simply because I have local knowledge on traffic patterns which most maps still lacks.

CamperBob2 10y ago
The #1 pro tip with Uber is never, ever call for a ride unless you have clear blue sky overhead. Otherwise, because you can't enable the satellite view, it's hard to be sure what location is actually going to be reported to the driver. Location services can be way off base when GPS reception is poor, and in many urban settings an error of a hundred yards might as well be ten miles. Uber could make life a lot easier for everyone if they'd just enable the satellite view, so you can verify that the driver will be sent to the location where you actually are. (Edit: Instead of downvoting, consider explaining why I'm wrong. Maybe there's something extremely silly that I'm missing.)
- jdminhbg 10y ago
  I'm not sure I understand this at all. You can move a pin to set your exact location in Uber and Lyft, you don't need to rely on GPS at all. Whether the directions supplied to driver get them there are accurate doesn't depend on GPS.
  - CamperBob2 10y ago
    You can move a pin to set your exact location in Uber and Lyft, you don't need to rely on GPS at all. Whether the directions supplied to driver get them there are accurate doesn't depend on GPS. If I don't know where I am on the map, what use is moving pins around going to be? Case in point -- I was in Las Vegas recently, and made the mistake of calling Uber from under the covered walkway at a large casino/hotel entrance. The driver ended up being dispatched down a back road leading off into the desert behind the hotel. Because the map showed nothing but nearby streets, there was no way to tell that it was reporting my position incorrectly. In the satellite view that's normally available in map-based applications, it would be very obvious that my reported location was nowhere near the hotel entrance.
    - jdminhbg 10y ago
      I think the confusion is that the satellite view has nothing to do with the weather. It's not a live picture.
      - CamperBob2 10y ago
        Correct, I'm using the term in its common colloquial sense of "Display of overhead imagery acquired by whatever means." Around here, the "satellite" imagery seems to be captured by people flying small planes back and forth.
        jdminhbg 10y ago
        Ok, now I understand the confusion. When you said "unless you have clear blue sky overhead," it seemed like you thought the weather was important, like there is a satellite broadcasting video back down to earth that would be interrupted if it were cloudy. What you meant is that it's visible from above, not blocked by some kind of bridge or something. And yes, that's absolutely true. I've been on streets that are right underneath bridge decks and drivers can't find. One way to avoid this is to set your pickup location to a business if one exists (i.e. a bar, hotel, restaurant), so the address is correct.
        khedoros1 10y ago
        The misunderstanding seems to be because of "unless you have clear blue sky overhead". People (including me) thought that you meant clouds, rather than man-made overhangs.
        CamperBob2 10y ago
        Gotcha, thanks. :) Too late to edit, unfortunately, but I definitely see your point. What I was hoping for was a comment like, "Hey, dumbass, press [...] and it'll turn on the satellite view. Everybody knows that."
    - infosample 10y ago
      Las Vegas isn't very Uber friendly. Most casinos have Uber pickups far away from the entrance and taxis. Same for the airport.
- yclept 10y ago
  Can't you just contact the driver... via your phone?
  - CamperBob2 10y ago
    If only there were an app that renders that sort of thing unnecessary. Somebody should look into that...
  - yardie 10y ago
    This is South Florida, 40% of the Uber drivers don't speak English well enough to drive and comprehend at the same time. And my worry is automated cars with no steering wheel still rely on these mapping services. They aren't 100% accurate and if you don't have any controls you can't correct for that.
dictum 10y ago
For over a year Google Maps changed my street name to something like (Actual Street Name) (Name of street far from mine). Every time I had to reschedule a package delivery I found myself more cynical about AI. You can't work around GIGO.
- mjevans 10y ago
  The GIGO is caused by our antiquated addressing scheme. I very much would like for 'street names' to cease existing. Instead label intersections by (slightly) rounded GPS co-ordinates. Also yes, the 'intersection' of a building and one or more roads is a subordinate intersection.
  - khedoros1 10y ago
    I can't tell you how much I hate that idea. Humans should always come before machines. Numerical street designations would be unusable for anything but automated transportation, with the exception of cities laid out in regular grids and numbered with small integers. That is: completely impractical for anywhere that I'd actually want to live.
greggman 10y ago
I'm also surprises uber doesn't take destination into account when requesting drivers. AFAICT it just asks based on distance so a driver that will be heading the wrong way to pick me up on a one way street takes the request and then I'm stuck waiting 5-10 mins as he passes me on the wrong side of the street, then calling me, then having to go several blocks to get back It's frustrating to not know if theyve tried this or not
- bobbles 10y ago
  It would also be great if it said something like 'wait on the other side of the street for most efficient pickup' or something similar
  - pmh 10y ago
    This feature exists/existed (I don't use Uber) in some markets: https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/08/uber-suggested-pickup-points/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/08/uber-suggested-pickup-poin...

by yardie 10y ago

CamperBob2 10y ago

The #1 pro tip with Uber is never, ever call for a ride unless you have clear blue sky overhead. Otherwise, because you can't enable the satellite view, it's hard to be sure what location is actually going to be reported to the driver. Location services can be way off base when GPS reception is poor, and in many urban settings an error of a hundred yards might as well be ten miles. Uber could make life a lot easier for everyone if they'd just enable the satellite view, so you can verify that the driver will be sent to the location where you actually are. (Edit: Instead of downvoting, consider explaining why I'm wrong. Maybe there's something extremely silly that I'm missing.)

jdminhbg 10y ago
I'm not sure I understand this at all. You can move a pin to set your exact location in Uber and Lyft, you don't need to rely on GPS at all. Whether the directions supplied to driver get them there are accurate doesn't depend on GPS.
- CamperBob2 10y ago
  You can move a pin to set your exact location in Uber and Lyft, you don't need to rely on GPS at all. Whether the directions supplied to driver get them there are accurate doesn't depend on GPS. If I don't know where I am on the map, what use is moving pins around going to be? Case in point -- I was in Las Vegas recently, and made the mistake of calling Uber from under the covered walkway at a large casino/hotel entrance. The driver ended up being dispatched down a back road leading off into the desert behind the hotel. Because the map showed nothing but nearby streets, there was no way to tell that it was reporting my position incorrectly. In the satellite view that's normally available in map-based applications, it would be very obvious that my reported location was nowhere near the hotel entrance.
  - jdminhbg 10y ago
    I think the confusion is that the satellite view has nothing to do with the weather. It's not a live picture.
    - CamperBob2 10y ago
      Correct, I'm using the term in its common colloquial sense of "Display of overhead imagery acquired by whatever means." Around here, the "satellite" imagery seems to be captured by people flying small planes back and forth.
      - jdminhbg 10y ago
        Ok, now I understand the confusion. When you said "unless you have clear blue sky overhead," it seemed like you thought the weather was important, like there is a satellite broadcasting video back down to earth that would be interrupted if it were cloudy. What you meant is that it's visible from above, not blocked by some kind of bridge or something. And yes, that's absolutely true. I've been on streets that are right underneath bridge decks and drivers can't find. One way to avoid this is to set your pickup location to a business if one exists (i.e. a bar, hotel, restaurant), so the address is correct.
      - khedoros1 10y ago
        The misunderstanding seems to be because of "unless you have clear blue sky overhead". People (including me) thought that you meant clouds, rather than man-made overhangs.
        CamperBob2 10y ago
        Gotcha, thanks. :) Too late to edit, unfortunately, but I definitely see your point. What I was hoping for was a comment like, "Hey, dumbass, press [...] and it'll turn on the satellite view. Everybody knows that."
  - infosample 10y ago
    Las Vegas isn't very Uber friendly. Most casinos have Uber pickups far away from the entrance and taxis. Same for the airport.
yclept 10y ago
Can't you just contact the driver... via your phone?
- CamperBob2 10y ago
  If only there were an app that renders that sort of thing unnecessary. Somebody should look into that...
- yardie 10y ago
  This is South Florida, 40% of the Uber drivers don't speak English well enough to drive and comprehend at the same time. And my worry is automated cars with no steering wheel still rely on these mapping services. They aren't 100% accurate and if you don't have any controls you can't correct for that.

dictum 10y ago

For over a year Google Maps changed my street name to something like (Actual Street Name) (Name of street far from mine). Every time I had to reschedule a package delivery I found myself more cynical about AI. You can't work around GIGO.

mjevans 10y ago
The GIGO is caused by our antiquated addressing scheme. I very much would like for 'street names' to cease existing. Instead label intersections by (slightly) rounded GPS co-ordinates. Also yes, the 'intersection' of a building and one or more roads is a subordinate intersection.
- khedoros1 10y ago
  I can't tell you how much I hate that idea. Humans should always come before machines. Numerical street designations would be unusable for anything but automated transportation, with the exception of cities laid out in regular grids and numbered with small integers. That is: completely impractical for anywhere that I'd actually want to live.

greggman 10y ago

I'm also surprises uber doesn't take destination into account when requesting drivers. AFAICT it just asks based on distance so a driver that will be heading the wrong way to pick me up on a one way street takes the request and then I'm stuck waiting 5-10 mins as he passes me on the wrong side of the street, then calling me, then having to go several blocks to get back It's frustrating to not know if theyve tried this or not

bobbles 10y ago
It would also be great if it said something like 'wait on the other side of the street for most efficient pickup' or something similar
- pmh 10y ago
  This feature exists/existed (I don't use Uber) in some markets: https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/08/uber-suggested-pickup-points/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/08/uber-suggested-pickup-poin...